Punching mechanism



y 1935. w. LASKER v 2,008,396?

PUNCHING MECHANISM Filed July 21, 1934 7 Sheets-She et 1 so E INVENTORWILLIAM w LASNKER HIS ATTORNEY INVENTOR WlLLiAM w y LASKER HIS TORNEYJuly 16, 1935. w. w. LASKER PUNCHING MECHANISM Filed July 21, 1954 '7Sheets-Sheet 2 July 16, 1935. w, w. LAsKER PUNCHING MEJHANISM Filed July2I, 1934 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 mw mm m M. m

July 16, 1935. w. w. LASKER 2,008,396

PUNCHING MECHANI SM Filed July 21, 1934 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORWILLIAM-W LASKER HIS A ORNEY July 16, 1935. w. w. L'ASKER PUNCHINGMECHANISM 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 21., 1934 INVENTOR WILLIAM wLASKER msA oRNEv July 16, 1935. w. w. LASKER PUNCHING MECHANISM FiledJuly 21, 19.34 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 SAL ES PERSON CASH uz s C USTOM ERS NOCODE EJS.

INVENTOR WILLIAM W LASKER 0 4% HIS AT ORNEY July 16, 1935. w. w. LASKERPUNCHING MECHANISM Filed July 21, 1934 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTOR WlLLlAMW LASKEF HIS ATTORNEY Patented July 16, 1935 p 2,008,396

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PUNCHING MECHANISM I William W. Lasker,Brooklyn, N. Y., asslgnor to Remington Rand Inc., Buffalo, N. Y., acorporation of Delaware Application July 21, 1934, Serial No."736,309

' 8 Claims. (01. 164-111) My invention relates to improvements in thework to and from punching position, and punching mechanism for producingpunched recadapted to hold either a token or a'larger card, ords for useparticularly in punched card acor both, in superposed fixed relation.counting systems. j Another 'object is to 'lock the work carrier By wayof explanation, in certain systems of against movement from punchingposition as a 5/ accounting, as practiced in mercantileestablishcondition precedent to the punching operation. ments, smalltags, commonly designated tokens Still another object is to lock thework carrier are used for identifying customers, sales clerks, duringthe punching operation, and to maintain and the cashier, or cashiers, asthe case may be, it locked-until the, punches have been retracted.

10 by distinctive numbers, code representations of A further object ofmy invention, specifically 10 which are punched therein. Customersrecord stated, is to provide efilcient, compactly arranged cards of theusual tabulating card type, and conoperating connections between aseriesof closely taining the names and addresses of the customspaced punchselector racks and widely spaced ers, are also used, which cards arepunched in sliding keys.

accordance with the customers tokens. These Other and subordinateobjects, together with 15 tokens are used as control mediums formachines, the structural details of my invention, will be whichautomatically produce tabulating cards clearly understood when thefollowing description punched to represent the numbers of the tokens andclaims are read in conjunction with the acand which are designed forsubsequent use in companying drawings, wherein:

tabulatmg machines for billing, ledger posting, Fig. l is an isometricview of a punching mech- 20 and other operations all of which, beingrelaanism constructed in accordance with my inventively unimportant to aproper understanding of tion, and showing the parts in normal position.the present invention, need not be entered into in Fig. 2 isanisometricsectional view, taken londetail herein. A special designationand control gitudinally through the mechanism, and showperforation ispunched in the tokens. These last ing approximately one half thereof.

perforations are differently located in the custom- Fig. 3 is a view inside elevation, partly in secers and cashiers tokens toindicate thereon,and tion, and showing the mechanism in punching on the tabulating card,whether the latter are position. concerned with cash-or credittransactions and Fig. 4 is a view in transverse section taken 0 fordifferently controlling the above mentioned on the line L-l of Fig. 3and looking in the machines, and others, such as sorting machines.direction indicated by the-arrows.

The special perforation in the sales clerks token Fig. 5 is alongitudinal section taken on the is located, as in the customers token,for a purline 55 of'Fig. 4 with the parts in normal posipose which neednot be explained herein. v tion, a p

So far as I am aware no machine has ever Fig. 6: is a fragmentaryisometric view olf punch 35 devised for punching small tokens and largerselecting mechanism. a

- record cards as above described either singly or Fig. 'l is a top planview, illustrating the relasimultaneously. Y Y tive arrangement of. thepunches and the work Having the foregoing in mind, the principalobcarrier.

-4 ject of my invention is to provide'an efficient, Fig. 81s a de p a iw pa tly b o en away. 40

simplified hand punch for punching small tokens and showing punchguiding and locking plates. and larger record cards with coderepresentations Fig. .9 is a fragmentary top plan view, illusofdistinctive numbers and with special designatrating a token positionedon the work carrier. tion and control perforations diiferently locatedFig. 10 is a similar view of- ,another work'carrelative to the numberrepresenting punches and rier. for a smaller size token. v 45 to eachother, for the purposes above set forth. Fig. 11 is a top plan view ofthe work carrier Another object of my invention is to provide of Fig.9with a record card and token positioned for simultaneously punching atoken and a record thereon for simultaneous punching. card. Fig. 12 is atransverse. section taken on the Another object is to provide, in such apunchline l2l2 of Fig. 9. I g 50 ing mechanism, for assembling a tokenand a. Fig. 13 is asimilar view taken on the line l3--|3 record card insuperposed fixed relation for of. Fig. 11. simultaneous punchingthereof. Fig. 14 is a view illustrating the code for punch- A specificobject is to provide a punching ing the number representingperforations.mechanism including a work carrier for moving Fig. 15 is a view of atoken punched to rep- 55 a on the work,

resent a customer's identifying number, and also with a specialdesignation indicating a credit transaction.

Fig. 16 is a similar view of a clerk's token. Fig. 17 is a similar viewof a cashier's toiken, punched with a special designation perforationindicating a cash transaction.

Fig. 18 is an isometric view of a punch selecting slide and partsdirectly associated therewith.

Describing my invention in detail, and with reference to the drawings,designates the base of the mechanism, the base preferably having theform of a rectangular casting comprising a base plate 2, and side, frontand rear flanges 3, 4 and 5, respectively, depending therefrom. Suitableresilient supports 6, and sockets 1 therefor, are secured to said baseby screws 8 threaded into bosses 9.

Surmounting the base I is a similarly shaped head I, presently'describedin detail, pivoted at its front end, as at H, for vertical rockingmovement on supports |2 upstanding from the base plate I. The head I isnormally held elevated by head operating mechanism, as follows:

Journaled at the rear of base I, in the side flanges 3, is a transverseshaft l3, operatively connected to said head by means of a crank arm |4thereon, and links |5 connecting said crank arm to a rod l6 secured inlugs H on said head. Shaft I3 and links |5 are urged in a head elevatingdirection by springs l8 connected to crank arms IS, on said shaft, andto a rod 20 secured to flanges 3. A crank arm 2|, fast on the shaft I3,establishes the normal elevated position of the head II) by engagementwith the base plate 2. A hand lever 22 is provided on oneend of theshaft l3 for operating the latter to depress the head ||l in oppositionto the springs l8. Depression of the head I0 is limited by engagement ofthe links I5 with the shaft l3, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

Intermediate the base I and head Ill is a fleld or set of verticalpunches 23, disposed in rows corresponding to line and columnarpositions and a pair of auxiliary special designation punches 24 and 25,located in the rear of the punches 23 and intermediate columnar rowsthereof, to punch distinctive perforations in the work for indicatingcash and credit transactions therein. The .punches 23, 24 and 25 aremounted for independent movement in the usual perforated stripper plate26 from which they are normally suspended by heads 21 thereon.

Cooperating with the punches 23, 24 and 25 are perforated die and guideplates 28 and 29, respectively, superposed in spaced apart relation, toform therebetween a punching chamber 38, and throughwhich said punchespass in a punching operation. The plate 28 is spaced from the plate 26by attachment to opposed undercut side bars 3| and 32, which, togetherwith plate 26. are secured to the base plate 2 as by screws 33.

The stripper plate 26 is suspended from the head II for verticalmovement thereby, as follows:

At opposite sides of said plate are opposed pairs of angularly relatedlinks, including horizontally disposed parallel links 35, pivotallyconnected to the side bars 3| and 32, and vertically movable by the headl0 through the medium of vertically disposed links 36 pivoted to saidhead, as at 31.

The stripper plate 26 is supported at its side edges by said links 35,whereby it is elevated to retract said punches from the punching chamber30. Vertical plungers 38, depending from the stripper plate 26, adjacenteach side thereof, and fitted into bores 39 in the side bars 3| and 32,guide said plate in its vertical movement to maintain it in horizontalposition. Under normal operation, that is to say in punching operations,the heads 21 of active punches act to depress the stripper plate 26, aswill be clear. However, it has been found that the plungers 38 areliable to bind and jam under such action by said punches,.because of thelocations of the punches relative to said plungers. Therefore, setscrews 40 are provided on the head It), directly above the plungers 38,whereby depressing forces are exerted by said head l0 against thestripper plate 26 in line with said plungers 38, and binding of thelatter obviated.

The punches 23, 24 and 25 are recessed, as at 4|, intermediate theirends to form longitudinally spaced shoulders 42 thereon. A perforatedpunch guiding plate 43 is suitably secured to the side bars 3| and 32. Alocking plate 44, provided with transverse slots 45 and intermediatetongues 46, is adjustably secured to the plate 43, as at 46, so thatsaid tongues 46 are positioned in said. recesses in interceptingrelation to the shoulders 42 to lock the punches against removal fromthe machine. The locking plate 44 is adjustable to an ineffectiveposition to unlock said punches, as will be clear.

The punches 23 are selected for operation through the medium of a seriesof key set toothed selector bars 41, one for each columnar row ofpunches, and suspended in a recess 48 in said head, as by rails 49, forsliding movement longitudinally of their associated row of punches. Theconnections between the keys and selector bars are arranged and mountedas follows:

Secured upon the head III, in any suitable manner, are superposedhousing members 50 and 5|, forming upper and lower chambers 52 and 53above said head. A series of laterally spaced slides 54 is mounted inthe chamber 52 for movement longitudinally of said rows of punches 23,said slides being provided with keys 55 projecting through slots 56 inthe housing member 50 for manual manipulation of th slides. The upperface of the housing member 50 is provided with rows of numberedgraduations 51 for indicating the number represented by the punchselection in each colunmar row of the latter, and the slides 54 arelikewise graduated and numbered as at 56 to display, through suitablesight openings 59, in the housing 50, the aggregate numberrepresentation of the punch selections.

As will be understood, it is desirable that the rows of punches 23 beclosely spaced for condensing the punched record, and that the keys 55be widely spaced, relatively speaking, to facilitate their operation.,To dispose the selector bars 41 in spaced apart relation, correspondingto that of the columnar rows of punches 23, and for setting by thewidely spaced keys 55, the following connections between the slides 54and said bars are provided: e

Suspended from the slides 54, as by posts 66 passing through slots 6| inhousing member 5|, are two opposed series of plates 62 arranged in eachseries in overlapping stepped relation to overlie related selector bars41. Vertical legs 63 on the bars 41 connect the latter to appropriateplates 62. Tensioned detent dogs 64, cooperating with notches 65 in thebars 41, yieldingiy latch the latter together with the keys 55 andslides 54 in selected position.

Mounted below the head M, in opposed brackets l secured to said head, isa special punch selector slide or key 66 endwise movable manually overthe special designation punches 24 and 25 to select the latter foroperation by the head l0,

when the latter is depressed, and having one end extending beyond thehead l0 for manipulation of said slide by the operator. Preferably theslide 66 has two positions only, in each of which an edge thereofoverlies a punch 24 or 25, as the case may be, and is provided with anedge notch 61 for clearance of the other punch by said slide when saidhead is depressed. Shoulders 68 on the slide 66 establish the twopositions of the latter. A spring pressed detent 69, mounted in the headl0 and cooperatingwith notches in l the slide 66, yieldingly retains theslide in either transactions on the cashiers token and card.

Appropriate legends, such as shown in Fig. 18, are provided on theextending end of the slide 88 for indicating through a sight opening Hin a suitably mounted plate 12 whether or not the selection of thepunches 24 or 25 is appropriate to the token to be punched.

The work carrier comprises a tray 13 removably mounted on a support 14for sliding movement between edge guides 15 on the latter, to advanceand retract the front end thereof into and from the punching chamber 30,stop member I8 and end rail 11, on the die plate 28 and table I4,respectively, limiting advance and retraction of said tray 13. The frontend of the latter is provided with a recess 18 for clearance by thepunches in a punching operation, and over which the token 19 or a recordcard 80, or both, are placed for perforation by said punches. Adjacentthe edges of the recess 18 are front and rear work holding members 8|and 82, respectively, suitably secured to the bottom of said tray andforming, together with the latter, a pocket for receiving three cornersof the token 19, the fourth corner being left free. An aperture 83 isprovided in the bottom of the tray 13 below the free corner of saidtoken, for facilitating removal of the latter by the operator as will beclear. The front work holding members 8|, together with front, rear andend flanges 84, 85 and 11 on said tray, form a pocket for positioning arecord card in said tray beneath a token I9, and for aligning the frontedges of said card and token as shown in Fig. 11, the rear member 82being spaced from the bottom of the tray 13 for insertion of said cardthereunder and one front member 8| having an undercut keeper lip 81forholding the front edge of the card against said member.

The work carrier tray I3 is locked in its advanced position and hencethe work in punching position by means of the following:

A plunger 88 is mounted in the base plate 2, in the line of movement ofone edge of the work carrier tray I3, and for vertical movement in saidplate. Normally, the,plunger 88 is elevated, in which position said edgeof the tray 13 is movable through a recess 89 in said plunger. When thework carrier tray is fully advanced, a recess 90 in said edge thereofregisters with a key 9| extending along said plunger. Operation of thehand lever 22 to depress the head l0 lowers said plunger to enter thekey 9| in the recess 90 and look said tray against movement prior to andduring the punching operation. The operating connections between thehand lever 22 and plunger 88 comprise a pair of levers 92 and 93pivotally mounted as at 94 and 95, a pin and slot connection 98 betweensaid levers. and similar connections 91 and 98 between said levers andthe crank arm 2| and plunger 88, respectively. The plunger is returnedto normal position by the beforementioned spring l8 as will be clear,the key 9| maintaining the tray 13 locked until the punches 23, 24 and25 have been fully retracted. A receptacle 99 is slidingly mounted belowthe base plate 2 in supports I00 to receive the punchings from the dieplate 28. A leaf spring l0| frictionally engages the bottom of saidreceptacle to hold the latter against accidental displacement.

By referring to Figs. 13, 14. and 15, it will be seen that the customersand cashiers tokens are of the same size, whereas the clerks token is rl. atively narrower. For punching the latter, and a record cardtherewith, a work carrier tray I02 (Fig. 10) is provided, in, which thefront and rear holding members 8| and 82a form a narrower pocket forsaid token, and which may be'substituted for the work holder of Figs. 9and 11, as will be understood. 1 a

A corner of the tray 13, or I92, is beveled, as at I05, and thecorresponding corner of the support 14 is similarly beveled, as at I06,so that a corner of a. card 80, located in said tray, will projectbeyond said tray and support to facilitate removal of the card from thetray by an operator.

A corner of the card 80 is usually beveled as at I01 for a purpose notimportant to this disclosure. To prevent the operator from insertingsuch a card in the tray, or trays, in wrong position, a pin I08 isprovided on said tray for cooperation with said beveled corner I01, whenthe card is correctly positioned and which blocks location of said cardin wrong position in said tray.

It remains to be stated that the machine is particularly designed forperforating according to the well known Lasker-Woodruff code disclosedinBritish Patent No. 378,571 of 1929. Suffice it to explain herein thatthis particular code is based on ten permutations of six punches in eachcolumnar row, as shownin Fig. 14, and that the racks 41 are providedwith wide and narrow teeth I03 and I04 arranged to select successive andalternate punches 23, respectively, according to the punch combinationsof said code.

The operation of my invention will, it is believed, be understood fromthe foregoing description of a preferred embodiment thereof.

Obviously, however, changes in form and modifications of details couldbe made without departure from the inventive concept disclosed, and itis, therefore, to be understood that only such limitations shall beimposed on the appended claims as are required by the prior art.

, What I claim is: v 1. In a card punching machine, the combina tionwith a field of punches, and means for selectively operating the same,of a work carrier operable to feed the work to said punches and ineluding work holding members forming superposed pockets of relativelydifferent sizes for holding relatively large and small cards insuperposed fixed relation.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a field ofdownwardly acting punches, and punch operating mechanism, of a workcarrier movable to position the work beand punch operating mechanism, ofa sliding tray for positioning the work beneath said punches and havinga recessed front edge for clearance of the tray by said punches, andwork holding means on said tray and including edge rails for holdingacard on said tray and over said recess, and pocket forming members attheedges of said recess for holding a card over said recess of smallersize than the first mentioned card.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination with downwardlyacting punches, and operating mechanism therefor, ofa work supportingtray slidable to a position beneath said punches, and having a recessedfront end for clearance of said tray by said punches, and work holdingmeans on said tray and including opposed abutment members at the frontthereof for engagement by the front edge of the card to locate the sameover said recess, and a member in the rear of said recess spaced fromthe bottom of the tray, for insertion of said card thereunder andforming together with said abutment members a card holding pocket for acard of smaller size than said first mentioned card.

5. A card carrier for use in a punching machine, and comprising a trayhaving a recessed end, and work holding means thereon including pocketforming members adjacent the edge of said recess seating three cornersof a card disposed therebetween, said tray having a finger opening inthe bottom thereof beneath the free corner of the card, to facilitateremoval of said card from said pocket.

6. A card carrier for use in a punching'machine, and comprising a trayhaving a recessed combination with a base, a vertically rocking headthereon, and a field of punches intermediate said base and head, ofmeans for withdrawing said punches by movement of said head andincluding opposed pairs of links pivoted 'to' said head and base formovement with said head and each including a horizontally disposed link,a punch carrying plate supported at its opposite edges by thehorizontally disposed links of said pairs, and abutment membersdepending from said head for engagement with said plate.

8. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a worksupport, a field of punches operative to punch the work in a pluralityofcolumn positions thereon, and means for selectively operating saidpunches, of auxiliary punches one or another of which is operated as anincident to operation of punches of said field, and to punch the workabove the punchings in the column positions and intermediate twoadjacent column positions.

WILLIAM W. LASKER.

